A suicide bomber detonated a vehicle packed with explosives at a roadside police checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, killing at least 11 people and wounding approximately 30, according to police and rescue services.
Attack in Dera Ismail Khan
The incident took place in Dera Ismail Khan, a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, reported Bilal Faizi, a representative for the provincial emergency service. Police confirmed that the deceased and injured were being transported to a nearby hospital, with several of the wounded in a critical state.
Claim of responsibility
The Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, claimed the attack in a statement. Pakistan has seen an uptick in militant attacks in recent years, many of which have been attributed to the TTP and the banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist group primarily active in the neighbouring Balochistan province.
Context and recent violence
The TTP operates independently but is aligned with the Afghan Taliban, which regained control in Afghanistan in 2021. It comes days after eight terrorists were killed and 130 others, among them 71 policemen, sustained injuries during the prolonged assault and counter-terror sweep in the same area.
